Silicon Labs Simplifies Power Over Ethernet Deployment For Residential Gateways And Surveillance Systems

Silicon Laboratories Inc. (NASDAQ: SLAB), a leader in high-performance, analog-intensive, mixed-signal ICs, today introduced a single-port Power over Ethernet (PoE) controller that brings economical “plug-and-play” simplicity to embedded power sourcing equipment (PSE) designs. The new Si3462 controller eases the development of PSE endpoints such as residential gateways, set-top boxes, fiber-optic media converters, and surveillance and security systems that connect to a wide variety of powered devices including VoIP phones, security cameras, keypads, network attached storage and WiFi access points.

Powered devices (PD) continue to proliferate in small office/home office (SOHO) and small-to-medium business (SMB) markets, driving the need for easy-to-use single-port embedded PoE/PoE+ PSE solutions to enable these end devices. With the rising popularity of the higher power IEEE 802.3at PoE+ standard and the need to support PD applications that consume up to 30 watts, developers require PSE controllers that offer flexible power measurement and monitoring capabilities, standards-compliance and no interoperability hassles.

The Si3462 controller is a complete, cost-effective single-port PoE and PoE+ PSE solution. When deployed with the new Classification Optional Mode, the Si3462 eliminates the need for up to 10 discrete components, reducing the total BOM cost for embedded PSE to as little as $1.60 (USD). In this mode, the Si3462 controller determines when a valid PD is connected at the other end of the cable and immediately applies a predetermined amount of power. This mode optimizes cost and simplicity for applications that do not require classification such as proprietary systems operating with a fixed set of PDs.

The Si3462 controller’s innovative architecture eliminates the need for a separate MCU and related software, simplifying overall system integration, mitigating software development costs and risks, and speeding time to market. The Si3462 device’s detection, classification, power-up, fault monitoring, protection and disconnect processes all run according to hardware pin configurations without the assistance of a host processor or MCU. The Si3462 continuously monitors the power delivered to PDs, ensuring that each PD is operating safely and within all IEEE-required PoE/PoE+ specifications.

1 2 3 Next › Last »